Defcomm

[Defjr333]

Update:
Ordered cabinets($1943) and sofa/ bed($1050) from Ikea. I am seriously in need of THE BUS SOON!!!
Running out of stuff to buy, except the one item to put it all in.
The layout of that pic of cabinets is front of bus to right, and bath to left(neither shown)

Doug

[Defjr333]

Rough trace of floor plan to compare with cabinet pic. Gonna be tight fitting all the guts in the available areas left over, but it looks do-able.
Doug

[Tango]

If it "looks doable on paper"...it probably isn't in the bus. Just a personal observation.

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by Tango

If it "looks doable on paper"...it probably isn't in the bus. Just a personal observation.

LOL. The only part I am questioning is the small 2'x4' area behind the kitchen wall to the side of the shower. That area needs to house batteries, generator, and LP system(separated sections vented outside). May need to look at the next size up Shuttle, or (gasp) a real shorty. I am slowly starting to edge closer to a real shorty..Would like an actual "garage" in the rear anyways..Will see!
Doug

[Defjr333]

Anyone out there with access to a couple "shorties" can send me some interior dimensions to get me thinking on? IE: how many windows and its xx by xx inside(from back of driver seat to rear wall, and side to side.)

Doug

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

As much as you are starting to pile in a build without something to build it into I am starting to think you are an architect student and are concerned with making a space look good but don't actually know how much room an electrical panel box and wiring drain line or insulated water line actually needs.
If I am wrong please call me on it.
But you are starting to sound like my wife when she was a residential architect and she would ask me what I thought about this design.
I would say the electrician needs more room here and you just screwed the plumber there.
You have to think about the actual workings? Electrical,water in,drain out. All is different depending on your specific bus/house.
Even with all the knowledge and opinions here and can guarantee that there is NO cookie cutter builds.
I think you need a mid size bus/shuttle instead of a shorty to fit all of that into comfortably.?
That's just an opinion.

[joeblack5]

That is cute set-up. Do you plan on a composting toilet? If so the I would make a slide out in that 2x4 area and make the shower smaller. The 2x4 would get smaller to 2 x2-1/2 but since it is about 3 ft high you still could get 3 batteries in the bottom and a propane tank on top.


Later j

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

As much as you are starting to pile in a build without something to build it into I am starting to think you are an architect student and are concerned with making a space look good but don't actually know how much room an electrical panel box and wiring drain line or insulated water line actually needs.
If I am wrong please call me on it.
But you are starting to sound like my wife when she was a residential architect and she would ask me what I thought about this design.
I would say the electrician needs more room here and you just screwed the plumber there.
You have to think about the actual workings? Electrical,water in,drain out. All is different depending on your specific bus/house.
Even with all the knowledge and opinions here and can guarantee that there is NO cookie cutter builds.
I think you need a mid size bus/shuttle instead of a shorty to fit all of that into comfortably.?
That's just an opinion.

Nah ... he's just a guy anticipating his first bus and getting excited about it

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

As much as you are starting to pile in a build without something to build it into I am starting to think you are an architect student and are concerned with making a space look good but don't actually know how much room an electrical panel box and wiring drain line or insulated water line actually needs.
If I am wrong please call me on it.
But you are starting to sound like my wife when she was a residential architect and she would ask me what I thought about this design.
I would say the electrician needs more room here and you just screwed the plumber there.
You have to think about the actual workings? Electrical,water in,drain out. All is different depending on your specific bus/house.
Even with all the knowledge and opinions here and can guarantee that there is NO cookie cutter builds.
I think you need a mid size bus/shuttle instead of a shorty to fit all of that into comfortably.?
That's just an opinion.

WELL THEN.....I have deleted 3 different replies before posting this one as to keep things PG. So I will leave it at that. Its the safest thing for sure.

NOW back to the QUESTION......anybody with shorty interior dimensions?
Doug

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

That is cute set-up. Do you plan on a composting toilet? If so the I would make a slide out in that 2x4 area and make the shower smaller. The 2x4 would get smaller to 2 x2-1/2 but since it is about 3 ft high you still could get 3 batteries in the bottom and a propane tank on top.


Later j

No on the composting toilet. I went with a Thetford cassette style. Got a deal on the toilet, shower base, and tilt away sink.
Doug

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by Twigg

Nah ... he's just a guy anticipating his first bus and getting excited about it

Not about excitement, its called PREPERATION. Want to be sure i can get what i want in it the WAY i want it. I want 99% of the questions to have been dealt with before I even get started with a tool(military taught me that). I am sure there will be minor modifications along the way, like movement of an item a few inches or trimming. But I dont want to get to buiding and realize NOTHING is gonna work where I want it.
I did see what u did tho Steve.....and its appreciated. Maybe I read that post wrong, but seemed to prejudge somebody he doesnt know based on something with his wife? Maybe I should start posting pictures and video of EVERYTHING i do related to my build. Like the entire mock up in my garage with the tape/boxes to mimic the cabinets and walls. And the actual furnace, water heater, etc IN PLACE. Dunno. Im not one to hold grudges or prolong an argument so
Doug

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Defjr333

Not about excitement, its called PREPERATION. Want to be sure i can get what i want in it the WAY i want it. I want 99% of the questions to have been dealt with before I even get started with a tool(military taught me that). I am sure there will be minor modifications along the way, like movement of an item a few inches or trimming. But I dont want to get to buiding and realize NOTHING is gonna work where I want it.
I did see what u did tho Steve.....and its appreciated. Maybe I read that post wrong, but seemed to prejudge somebody he doesnt know based on something with his wife? Maybe I should start posting pictures and video of EVERYTHING i do related to my build. Like the entire mock up in my garage with the tape/boxes to mimic the cabinets and walls. And the actual furnace, water heater, etc IN PLACE. Dunno. Im not one to hold grudges or prolong an argument so
Doug

I get it.

However there does come a point where you are simply chasing your tail. All of the buses are different. None of them are square. Everything will have to be "fitted into a space", and the spaces aren't even, and designs change all the time.

I've been around camping and RV's all my life, and buses for a few months.

So I took a more general approach. I thought long and hard about what I wanted a bus for, which led me down the path to the right bus for us. There were compromises. I wanted a rear door, but I wanted the benefits of a pusher more than that. I wanted to be able to stand upright, but I didn't want the extra work and expense of a roof-raise ... and so it went on.

What I ended up with was a Thomas Saf-T-Liner MVP ER. I had no idea where the side door would be in relation to everything else, nor many of the other features.

So now I am stripping it out. I have got no further with the design than working out if the rear bedroom, storage and bathroom will fit behind the side-door. It will but I'll have to have the shower on the passenger side and that means running pex across the floor before the plywood goes down.

I can do that, so all is well. Once I have that in place I can figure out how to use the rest of the space. I kept the threshold strip so I can run pipes and wires from back to front past the side door on the driver side.

That's the thinking process I am using. Had I drawn elaborate plans beforehand, everything would have changed and some of it quite radically by the time the bus was in my yard.

[Defjr333]

I have gone from a converted ambulance (had for 6 years), to building an enclosed trailer(decided against for various reasons) to a Shuttle Bus, and now contemplating Shorty Skoolies. Its always a compromise any way you go.
The thing about my floorplan I like the most and am trying to maintain the most is all plumbing and 95% of electronics are all within 3-5 ft of each other. That is why the kitchen and bathroom BOTH back up to the "Utility" closet area. I just plan ahead so I was inquiring dimensions on shorties to compare. I know what I want, and how I want it to function. But since I have yet to buy the bus, I am FREE to look, research, decide, change mind, and get it 100% before I drive one home. Amazing how me contemplating a way to get a bit more area behind the kitchen(by way of a larger vehicle) would go so wrong.
Think I may just make a new thread:

"Can I see Your Shorty"

I think mine may be too small. So, how big is yours? Pics appreciated.
Rules:
No putting others down because you think theirs is too big or small. No questioning how others "work" theirs unless specifically asked. No asking/ comparing to ones spouse.
Doug

[plfking]

Originally Posted by Defjr333

WELL THEN.....I have deleted 3 different replies before posting this one as to keep things PG. So I will leave it at that. Its the safest thing for sure.

NOW back to the QUESTION......anybody with shorty interior dimensions?
Doug

I applaud your constraint.

15 ft from back of driver seat to back door. 7.5 ft interior width.


Don

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by plfking

15 ft from back of driver seat to back door. 7.5 ft interior width.


Don

Thanks Don. Thats the same dimensions Im working with for a shuttle layout...do u know if thats common for 6 window units? Maybe 7-9 window would work....Hmmm

As far as restraining myself on replies to that post, once I read it like it was directed at somebody else, I realized sometimes we ALL post things that sound fine in OUR OWN heads, but read by another can be taken poorly. I am giving the benefit of the doubt in this case. I have not seen that poster deliberately be rude in the past, so thats how im reading it for now. I did send him a funny PM tho
Doug

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

No disrespect or rudeness intended.
I played MARINE which might explain some of my straight forward replies.
You also mentioned you were in the military. Can I assume that with your location that you are/were NAVY?

[plfking]

Originally Posted by Defjr333

Thanks Don. Thats the same dimensions Im working with for a shuttle layout...do u know if thats common for 6 window units? Maybe 7-9 window would work....Hmmm

When I started my search 2 years ago, the 'rule of thumb' was approx. 2.5 ft per window (my particular windows range from 28" to 33"). But take it with a grain of salt -- I've measured several 5-window buses that had the same interior length as 6-windows.


Don

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

No disrespect or rudeness intended.
I played MARINE which might explain some of my straight forward replies.
You also mentioned you were in the military. Can I assume that with your location that you are/were NAVY?

Yes, ex Navy AT2. Took many Marines from NAS Millington TN to Memphis on weekends. I appreciate the clarification on the posts. There really is a big difference in the 2 branches mentality of getting things done. My only issue was it was assumed I "knew nothing" about building ie how big certain items are......BUT that is NOT your fault. When we post things we dont always include every bit of info. For example: had I said the floorplan was 7' wide and the 6" difference was for studding out and insulation depth, that would have given you info that yes, i do have a place to run wires, pex, etc. I do not give exact assembly instructions. I tend to roll along until i have a question. But how is somebody else suppossed to know that?
Im just glad everyone is on the same page and no hard feelings.
Doug

[Defjr333]

Originally Posted by plfking

When I started my search 2 years ago, the 'rule of thumb' was approx. 2.5 ft per window (my particular windows range from 28" to 33"). But take it with a grain of salt -- I've measured several 5-window buses that had the same interior length as 6-windows.


Don

Thanks Don. That helps. I want to see if there is anything out there available in the 18'ish range(im talking from back of driver seat to rear wall). I dont seem to find many shorties other than the van based....If its going to be a van based bus, I would just stick with a Shuttle.
Doug

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Defjr333

Update:
Ordered cabinets($1943) and sofa/ bed($1050) from Ikea. I am seriously in need of THE BUS SOON!!!
Running out of stuff to buy, except the one item to put it all in.
The layout of that pic of cabinets is front of bus to right, and bath to left(neither shown)

Doug

Seems that the bus should be bought 1st...idk...

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